A delegation of the Dr Ambedkar Marathwada University Bachao Samiti led by Dalit activist Chetan Kamble met university registrar Pradeep Jabde and also submitted a memorandum to Fadnavis.Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN | December 06, 2016, 15:00 IST

MUMBAI: Aurangabad-based Dalit activists have condemned the decision of the Devendra Fadnavis government to divert 100 acres land from the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University to set up the Gopinath Munde Memorial National Institute of Rural Development.

A delegation of the Dr Ambedkar Marathwada University Bachao Samiti led by Dalit activist Chetan Kamble met university registrar Pradeep Jabde and also submitted a memorandum to Fadnavis. They said they will not allow any land to be given for the rural development institute in the memory of Munde. "We have high respect for Munde, in fact he played a crucial role in the sustained agitation for renaming Marathwada University after Dr Ambedkar. Yet, we feel the CM should reconsider the decision and shift the proposed institute to another place," Kamble said.

B A Chopade, vice-chancellor, Dr Ambedkar Marathwada University, refused to comment on the row over the allotment of land.

At a special cabinet meeting held on October 4 in Aurangabad, a decision was taken to carve out 100 acres of land from Dr Ambedkar University to set up the institute named after Munde. It was proposed to set up a world class institute for research in the field of rural development, agricultural produce and agricultural processing.

Kamble said considering the purpose for which the Munde memorial institute was being set up, it will be appropriate to locate it elsewhere in the Marathwada region. "At a juncture when courses conducted by the agricultural universities are shutting down, the government has proposed to set up an institute for rural development. It's a classic case of land grabbing," Kamble said.